First it was 'Look for Longer' in 2012, then it was '150 Brands' this July - CBS Outdoor have so far launched two interactive outdoor campaigns that have gone thoroughly viral, continuing to reinforce the fact that out-of-home advertising is far from slowing down. As a descendent of the monumental Look for Longer success, 150 Brands would have to use similar methods of anchoring the city's attention span - and we think it did just fine. Where Look for Longer presented one very cryptic London Underground puzzle, 150 Brands celebrated the Underground's 150th anniversary by asking both commuters and online participants to guess 150 iconic brands through visual and strapline clues.
With a presence at 78 tube stations for two weeks, 150 Brands was perfectly positioned to connect with the constantly moving public of London, providing a welcome distraction from platform waiting times and claustrophobic rush-hour journeys.
Brands ranging from Marmite to Apple were represented by abstract product photos or trademark company mottos, aiming to compliment Look for Longer's coverage of 170 countries, 7,000 social network reactions and almost 300,000 unique web hits. This outdoor advertising sequel managed to provoke 38,149 web visits from 99 countries, with players spending an average of 47 minutes tackling the game online. Almost 40% of site traffic came from social networks - 65% of which was Facebook-inspired and 26% via Twitter - with a full 50% of activity stemming directly from those viewing the 115 billboards.
CBS Outdoor UK marketing director, Simon Harrington, pointed out that "57% of Londoners have a smartphone", with many of those able to maximise on the London Underground's expanding free wi-fi networks, meaning that the campaign was able to fully harness the power of social media. 31% of visitors to the 150 Brands website were coming from mobile devices, giving advertisers a thorough example of how out-of-home is a "meaningful way of engaging with a hyper-connected target audience".
Harrington continued to say that: "The 150 Brands game provides just an inkling of what can be achieved when you fire up people’s imagination and bring them along for the journey; in this case, the opportunity to involve people in the London Underground’s rich advertising heritage."
Slogans receiving the most recognition were Maybelline's "Maybe She's Born With It", which has been in circulation since 1991, followed by Burger King's "Taste is King", Nike's "Just Do It", KFC's "It's Finger Lickin' Good", and McDonalds' "I'm Lovin' It".
Visually, Heinz Tomato Ketchup was the most recognisable brand, with Orangina, Corona, Jaguar and Playstation filling the following four spots.
